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Hi,
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Approx.$250 in parts & rest is labor. Probably 3 to 4 hrs labor at most, even at 5 hrs labor, that's $100/hr labor. It must include alignment after the repairs, correct? Not sure what your going rate for labor is in your area. Probably wouldn't hurt to call around for a second opinion& estimate just to be sure.

You will need certain tools to remove the ball joint. You will need a ball joint removal and installation kit you can find at a local automotive store.Remove brakes and control arms to easily get to ball joint and start the removal. The ball joint kit has instructions on how to remove and install your new ball joint.

Raise vehicle up on jack stands so that the stands are under the lower controll arms and the suspension is "loaded"
Remove the front tire(s) (if you break the torque on the nuts while the wheel is still on the ground it helps, but do not loosen them completely as you will be looking for new rims and wheel studs too).
Place a drift or some other suitable object in one of the brake rotor vanes so that it will hit the brake caliper and stop the rotor from moving and remove the CV shaft nut (it's a big ****** make sure you have the right socket on hand before getting to this point).
Next remove the brake caliper and rotor then undo the wheel bearing retaining bolts and remove the wheel bearing.
This should give you enough room to move the axle shaft back and up so you can work on the ball joint.
If you've had ball joints replaced before just unbolt the ones that are installed and using a pickle fork, or a block of wood and a hammer, drive the ball joint stud from the knuckle. (make sure to support the upper control arm so it doesn't drop down on you when you do this)
If you are working on original ball joints then I reccomend placing a block of wood or something else that will protect the cv boots from drill bits ect and drill out the rivets holding the ball joint in place. then remove in the same manner indicated in the previous paragraph.
installation is pretty much the reverse of removal and don't forget to torque your cv shaft nut I have a 1999 and the manual specs 103FTlbs... This is a critical torque as it helps preload your wheel bearing. Too high and you'll burn them up, too low and they'll be loose and wear out.

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this video will giv you an idea of what you're up against. its shows a ball joint replacement for 2000 falcon and the incorect way to do it. doing it this way will work but you risk damaging the parts and yourself, I strongly suggest you take it to a machine shop. try looking for a small mom and pop owned shop, older shop owners have a lot of knowledge and always have a trick or two up thier sleeve and when done, probable willonly take a few minutes, they will just give a price off the top of thier head like $20 dipends onhow difficult and how long it takes. i once had an axle ifor the life of me could not get the wheel hub off, i went to a small machine shop i explaind to the shop owner (who looked to be about 90) what i was trying to do. He stood there looking at me for a few seconds then motioned for me to hand him the axle. when i did he slammed it to the ground and it came apart. Again he stood there looking at me a few seconds then said "no charge".

The ball joints are part of the lower control arm . The control arm is not extremely difficult, but not easy either. First remove the nut on balljoint, then pull the ball joint out of the knuckle, that may take a pry bar, remove front control arm nut and bolt, and two bolts on rear of control arm bushing, reverse process to install. The Ford workshop manual says to replace the control arm nuts and bolts, but I hardly ever do. Have never had a problem. Torque front bolt to 111 lb-ft, and rear to 73 lb-ft. Hope that is good for you.
KIP. Martin, service manager Ford dealership.

The easiest way is too remove the whole knuckle and remove the joint on a bench. The Ball Joint is in the knuckle, not in the lower control arm. Try to not break pinch bolt on lower strut clamp. Hope this helps.. :-) Cobra

support vehicle under A frame remove wheel. loosen nut on top of ball joint.seperate spindle assembly from ball joint w/ball joint seperating tool AKA pickle fork.remove nut.ball joint is riveted to lower A frame-chisel off or drill out rivets.install new ball joint w/nuts &bolts supplied with it

if you dont have a ball joint press and dont know how to use one then dont do it, but if you do its not that bad of a job just jack the truck up under the control arm remove the brake rotor then take the lower ball joint nut off then use a pickle fork to break the ball joint loose then take the axle nut off push the axle out of the bearing and use the ball joint press to remove and replace the ball joint

Before servicing the vehicle refer to the precautions at the beginning of this section.

Raise and support the vehicle.

Prior to carrying out any inspection of the ball joints inspect the wheel bearing.

Have an assistant pull inward and outward on the top and the bottom tire. Mount a suitable dial indicator and measure the movement between the ball joint and the lower arm. If the movement is at or exceeds 0.03 in. (0.75 mm) install a new ball joint.

The front lower ball joints are pressed into the steering knuckle. Once the brake components are removed, the CV shaft nut and tie rod ends can be removed. Remove the front strut bolts, and the lower ball joint nut. Separate the lower arm from the ball joint. Once the knuckle assembly is off the car remove the lower joint snap ring and dust boot. Utilizing a ball joint press (should be able to rent from local parts store) press the joint out of the knuckle. Re-installation is naturally reverse of removal. I hope this helps.